Document Accessibility for Print Service Providers

Document accessibility is a very serious subject for many organizations today. Both mainstream and industry press are publishing more articles about the significant fines that high-profile companies are paying to settle lawsuits for noncompliance with current accessibility regulations like the ADA, the ACA, the Section 508 ICT refresh, and others. Â Most organizations are aware of these regulatory mandates to provide documents in accessible formats upon request to their blind, partially sighted, and cognitively disabled customers. However, they struggle to identify and understand the best methods to fulfil these requests. Many companies will look to their print service providers for guidance or to handle accessibility requests from their customers on their behalf.

If you are a print services provider, helping your customers deliver accessible documents to their customers represents a huge opportunity to expand your business offerings beyond traditional print and to provide meaningful business value to your customers. Not only will you help them improve the customer experience for an underserved segment of their customer base, but you will also help them mitigate the risks and consequences of non-compliance.

As a print services provider, delivering accessible documents also gives you the potential to expand into new markets and reach more customers. It is estimated that, while 15-20% of all individuals would benefit from receiving communications in an accessible format, only 3-4% of all documents are currently accessible. With an increasingly aging population, and an explosion in the growth of conditions such as diabetes and macular degeneration, the need for accessible documents will continue to increase dramatically.